PODCAST

November 27th, 2017

We romanticize rebels. They inhabit our cultural narrative. In popular fiction, it is the rebels who typically have the moral high ground against the exploitation of the corrupt empire. Apart from the author-guided morality of these tales, rebellion in real life quickly gets murky. One person’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist. There are evils in our world that should be rebelled against, but self-proclaimed liberators may quickly become exploiters if given the opportunity. Human moral authority, apart from God, all too often is tainted by sin.

The people of Judah were rebelling against the ultimate, unshakable source of moral authority, “the LORD . . . the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 1:4). Rebellion against God is the very definition of sin. They had abandoned their covenant relationship with God, forsaken His laws, and worshiped false gods. Their rebellion was already bringing suffering.

Rebels can be restored, but it requires they lay down their weapons, confess their crimes, submit again to authority, and display real transformation through changed lives.